Pours a hazy, dark golden color with a thin head that receded to a thin skim of suds. Despite the lack of head a surprising amount of lacing gets left behind down the glass during consumption. The brewer admits this needed more time to ferment in the bottle, but still is a flaw.

Rhubarb dominates the aroma. It smells tart with a slight fruity touch. Not much of the base beer is detectable.

How do you brew a tart beer without adding bugs? Use rhubarb of course. Moderately tart with the rhubarb flavor dominating. Hints of the base beer such as honey with some vinous qualities. Some yeast esters along with pale malt. Need to be a fan of rhubarb to really enjoy this beer.

The low carbonation hurts the mouthfeel. A tart beer needs a little life in my opinion. Medium bodied.

A little age would help this beer. The carbonation will pick up and let the rhubarb fade. May need to pick up another bottle and let it sit for a couple of months. (962 characters)

Appearance: After a long struggle with the cork, this beer poured a mostly opaque golden amber color with a brown hue. Sediment is easily visible, but the beer is unfiltered and bottle conditioned, so sediment is definitely par for the course. There is also a pleasant, yet minimal stream of carbonation off the bottom of the glass, which is directly at odds with the nearly complete lack of head. This is a good-looking beer that is above average for the style.

Aroma: There is a sweetness from the honey, which lends an almost mead-like note. As expected, clear notes of rhubarb come through both in tartness and the sweetness that comes from rhubarb pie. Yeast is there, and it comes through in a distinctively Belgian note. Alcohol is also there, just in the back of the smell. Again, the beer adheres to the style quite well, while also throwing a unique spin on it. The only problem with the aroma is the lack of complexity.

Taste: The beer is more complex in the taste than was hinted at in the aroma. There is a fantastic blending of rhubarb, biscuits, and honey sweetness, almost immediately followed up by tartness. The tartness is similar to a wild ale, but not as intense. Then the honey comes back with double the strength it initially had. The odd aspect is that, unlike most beers, there is no real bittering here. Somehow it works here. The transformative nature of the beer from sweet to tart to sweet is very interesting; if only the taste had stopped there… The alcohol that was minimal in the nose is much bigger in the tail end of the taste, and not the pleasant kind. This really seems to vary between drinks, suggesting that the beer may not be fully mixed well and/or may not be a perfect suspension. If not for the prominence of the alcohol, this beer could have been excellent; sadly, it was not to be.

Mouthfeel: The best way to describe the mouthfeel is by comparing it to a tart fruit juice. It is medium, sticky, and causes a tingle all over the mouth. The alcohol makes for that pleasant warming effect, and sort of redeems the unpleasantness it lent to the taste. The aftertaste leaves a very dry feeling in the mouth, again, mead-like. The carbonation is not near as present as it would appear; in fact, the beer is basically flat, which is really unfortunate.

Overall: While this is definitely a passable beer, it could have been so much more. That makes this a disappointment, because of the ease with which the drinker can imagine this beer being if it were just a touch better executed. Perhaps over time, Olvalde will nail this one down and create what could be a real beer to seek out; that would be a real treat for drinkers of every style preference. We can only hope. Also, the bottle is pretty large, and the sweetness gets to you over time; share this one. 15/20 (2,857 characters)

t - fantastic, it's amazing how much character the rhubarb aging brought to the table... again, tangerine... the citrus also seems to hold on a lot longer than it does in the original, essentially brought the focus from sweet to tart

m - the only body here comes from its relatively high carbonation, otherwise it drinks similar to a cider

o - yet another home run from Ovalde, I've never even heard of rhubarb being used in beer but clearly it fits the part, bravo! (814 characters)

Poured from 750 mL bottle into snifter.A: Pours a dark golden hue (slightly murky) with high carbonation producing a 2-3 inch bubbly white head. Excellent retention. Good amount of lasting lacing too.S: Fresh and spicy Belgian yeast, fruity esters, toasted grains, and a whiff of honey and rhubarb.T: Wow...the aroma got turned on its head...rhubarb and honey right up front here. Fruity esters and Belgian yeast. Hint of toasted grains and malt. Surprisingly good.M: Smooth, sweet, and with a good amount of carbonation to prickle the palate. Surprisingly light body given the hefty ABV.D: This is one damn good beer! Just about as drinkable as a 10% ABV brew can get. The rhubarb adds a very pleasant layer of complexity and melds well with the rest of the notes. One would think this would hardly be noticeable, but it makes its presence known. (852 characters)